The Department of Defense announced today the
death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They
died December 4, 2006, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, of injuries suffered from small
arms fire while conducting security and observation operations. They were
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd
Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.

Killed were:

Private First Class Albert M. Nelson, 31, of
Philadelphia.

Private First Class Roger A. Suarez-Gonzalez,
21 of Miami.

The incident is under investigation.

For further information related to this release,
contact the Fort Carson Public Affairs Office at (719) 526-3420.

December 16, 2006Tragic way to learn son is in Iraq

The death of a Fort Carson soldier in Iraq
earlier this month came as a surprise to his relatives.

They thought he was still in Colorado.

“I didn’t even know he was in Iraq,” said Jean
Feggins of Philadelphia, the mother of Private First Class Albert M. Nelson.

The 31-year-old Nelson was killed December
4, 2006, with Private First Class Roger A. Suarez-Gonzalez, 21, when their
infantry unit came under small-arms fire in Ramadi, the Army said Friday.
The men were with a 2nd Brigade Combat Team battalion sent to Anbar province,
southwest of Baghdad.

Feggins said her son enlisted in the Army about
a year ago.

“He was only in there about a year,” Feggins
said.

Before joining the Army, Nelson worked as a
security guard and at other jobs. Feggins said her son was a “regular guy”
and a “people person.”

Nelson was the oldest of Feggins’ six children.
The youngest is 12. Feggins said she raised them all to look up to their
older brother.

“They’re devastated,” Feggins said.

Feggins declined to talk in detail about Nelson’s
personal life.

“He’s a grown man,” Feggins said. “He was a
grown man.”

Feggins said her relationship with her son
went through some cool times.

“Me and him, we didn’t always see eye to eye,
but we were best friends,” Feggins said.

Feggins said her son never married or had children.

Nelson and Suarez-Gonzalez died while conducting
security and observation operations, the Army said.

Suarez-Gonzalez was from Miami.

Since the start of the Iraq invasion in 2003,
177 Fort Carson soldiers have been killed, including 55 deaths from enemy
fire. Seventy-two soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team have been killed.
16 December 2006:

A funeral will be held today (Saturday) for
a 31-year-old soldier from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who lost his
life in Iraq.

Private First Class Albert M. Nelson died on
December fourth from small arms fire in Ramadi. He and another soldier,
21-year-old Roger A. Suarez-Gonzalez of Miami, were conducting security
and observation operations when they were shot. Suarez-Gonzalez also died.

On the afternoon of December 4, 2006, Private
First Class Albert Nelson was wounded and Private First Class Roger Suarez-Gonzalez
was killed during an exchange of fire in "building #2" close to the south
bank of the Euphrates River in Ramadi, Anbar province, Iraq. This
video, which was recorded from the point of view of the men in building
#2 that day, appears to show an American tank firing on them, followed
by an attempt to assign official blame for the death of Suarez and the
injuries to Nelson to Iraqi insurgents firing mortars. Nelson later died
of his wounds.

The video comes from a camera mounted on the
helmet of Sergeant First Class Jack Robison, who donned it to record a
firefight in progress. The footage begins with Robison in a courtyard attached
to building #2. The original video was 52 minutes and 38 seconds long;
Salon has abridged it to show the alleged friendly fire incident and its
aftermath, including exchanges between Robison and a commanding officer
as to whether or not a U.S. tank fired on the building, and the comments
of other soldiers in the house who say they saw the tank fire at their
position. The video shows Pfc. Nelson receiving medical attention for his
left leg, which was severed in the blast. At the request of Nelson's family,
we have blurred his image throughout. It includes graphic violence and
profanity. The video can be viewed in its entirety below, albeit with Nelson's
image obscured.

Members
of an Army honor guard carry the remains of Pfc. Albert M. Nelson, of Philadelphia, during
funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery Monday, December 18, 2006.

Family
and friends comfort each other during funeral services for Pfc. Albert
M. Nelson,
of Philadelphia, during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery
Monday, December 18, 2006.

Brigadier
General Anthony Cucolo, right, presents Jean Feggins the American flag
that draped
the casket of Pfc. Albert M. Nelson, of Philadelphia, during funeral services
at Arlington National Cemetery
Posted: 16 December 2006 Updated: 20 December 2006 Updated:
4 February 2007 Updated: 7 December 2008